159: sneak into

As elite mercenaries, Valentine and Toke were already well-known pros in this line of work.

Although the commission assigned by Old Captain was indeed somewhat difficult, Valentine and Toke still had hope of completing it.

At worst, Fang Yun would be there to back them up.

With the idea of training themselves, Valentine and Toke decided to participate in Fang Yun's commission.

Before undertaking the mission, they specifically instructed Fang Yun that unless the situation developed to an irreversible point, they hoped he could maintain the strength level of a normal elite mercenary.

Fang Yun naturally agreed.

With Fang Yun the Hacker present, Valentine and Toke could ruthlessly kill the members of the Vortex Gang without any worries.

The killed lackeys had "body status detection programs" and "positioning programs" on them.

With the Hacker technology Fang Yun could currently use, it was enough to deceive these two programs in a short amount of time.

After simply hiding the three bodies, the three of them, Fang Yun, continued deeper into the clinic.

...

The rusted security door slid open silently before Fang Yun, a layer of black grease accumulated on the door shaft, subtly emitting the smell of rotten flesh.

Fang Yun squatted down and wiped the ground with his hand; his fingertips immediately picked up some dark red crystals.

"A product of years of accumulated bloodstains mixed with cyberware coolant. It seems this place was more than just a simple cyberware clinic before."

Valentine and Toke also reached out and wiped the ground.

"It's sticky."

"It's been dry for a long time, already forming solid crystals."

Fang Yun sent the intelligence information he retrieved to the communication channel.

"Triple layer defense."

Valentine's cybernetic eye glowed faintly in the darkness.

In the shared view, the blue virtual building projection was constantly being covered by red markers.

"The Vortex Gang has installed vibration sensors in the elevator shaft on each floor."

"It's fine, I can shield the sensors for two seconds. As long as we get through quickly enough, we won't be discovered."

"It's back, it's all back. This familiar feeling, this is how it should feel when doing commissions normally."

"My strength was too great, couldn't let my brother-in-law have his fill, truly sorry. (Laugh)"

"Steamrolling is certainly great, but it's not every time we can do a commission with you, Fang Yun, so becoming stronger ourselves is very important."

"Next, it's up to you guys to perform. I'll count to three, and we'll rush through together."

"One, two, three, rush!"

The three of them, Fang Yun, quickly stepped over the vibration sensor and then quickly moved away from its detection range.

"Alright, keep moving forward."

Fang Yun, Valentine, and Toke directed each other with hand gestures, advancing forward in turns.

Suddenly, Toke pressed down on their shoulders.

The ventilation grate two meters away fell off due to aged screws, and a skeleton with shreds of flesh hanging on it tumbled out like a broken doll; its empty eye sockets were somewhat unsettling to look at.

Fang Yun noticed a half-broken data cable plugged into the neural interface at the back of the skeleton's neck, with a piece of scorched fabric still stuck to the cable head.

"A 'marker' from the Cleaners."

Valentine walked forward, used his dagger to pry open the skeleton's ribs, revealing the spine from which a section had been removed.

"So that's it. This damned place used to be an assembly line for dismantling living people's parts."

"The Cleaners actually showed great kindness by not completely dismantling this person. Heh."

"Cleaners, huh."

This should be the first time I've 'greeted' the Cleaners since transmigrating to this world. Although it's not a living Cleaner, but just a skeletal frame they left behind.

"As long as you're mixing in Night City, you'll run into the Cleaners someday. The cockroaches, scum, disassemblers, the most hated, bottom-line 'lights out' of Night City - that's them."

"I suggest, after encountering the Cleaners, if you're confident, just kill them directly. Not only can you earn some extra money, but you can also avenge several unfortunate families along the way."

Toke's tone was somewhat heavy; Fang Yun felt that he might have encountered a situation similar to what he described.

After confirming that this skeleton was just an ordinary skeleton, the three of them, Fang Yun, continued forward.

They moved along the base of the walls, quickly moving from one patch of shadow to another.

The locations of the Vortex Gang guards and cameras along the way were all marked by Fang Yun.

The three of them were like assassins lurking in the grass, avoiding all "sentry points" and "human-machine puppets," quietly approaching the enemy's "mage."

Honestly, if I hadn't used the ideas of Fifth Order Hacker technology to build some overpowered Third Order puppets, I might have been discovered by Ling Bu as soon as I entered the clinic.

While contemplating whether "slightly opening" counts as opening, Fang Yun crept towards the elevator shaft leading to the third underground floor.

...

Inside the rusted elevator shaft, the figures of the three of them, Fang Yun, were elongated by the dim emergency lighting.

Valentine took the lead; his military-grade tendon cyberware made his climbing movements as light as a gecko's.

"Alright Valentine, where did you get that military-grade tendon cyberware?"

"A very dangerous commission, almost failed in there. After coming out alive, the middleman used their channels to find me a few types of first-hand military-grade cyberware. I chose the tendons, and they're quite useful."

"That's really strong. (Thumbs up.jpg)"

While chatting with Valentine, Fang Yun closely followed him, sliding into the elevator shaft.

Toke walked at the very back.

"From the second basement floor to the third basement floor, are there no other shortcuts?"

"No, only this elevator shaft is unguarded. It might be because we're about to approach Ling Bu's hiding place, so even small staircases have motion detectors."

"Ten more meters, prepare to enter the third basement floor. Watch your step."

Valentine's voice was somewhat muffled.

A strange purple light emanated from the bottom of the elevator shaft; it was the abandoned neon sign on the third basement floor constantly flickering.

Suddenly, Fang Yun felt waves of stinging warnings coming from his neural synapses.

At the inspection opening of the Faraday cage interlayer at the bottom of the elevator shaft, a Vortex Gang elite wearing infrared goggles slowly emerged, the blade in his hand aimed at Valentine's back.

The exposed hydraulic tubes on that person's neck glowed with a faint green light.

"Damn it, it's an ambush hidden within the Faraday cage structure! Valentine, dodge quickly!"

The warning message was instantly sent to Valentine's System.

The "Void Walker" on Fang Yun's body was ready to activate at any moment.

Fortunately, the warning message played its intended role, or rather, Valentine's battle-hardened intuition saved him.

The sudden sense of crisis caused Valentine's Krennikov to be instantly activated.

It was only a matter of millimeters.

At the critical moment, Valentine released his hands to let himself fall freely, while forcefully twisting his body, avoiding the outcome of being stabbed through the heart.

"Rip."

The blade that grazed Valentine's body cut through the synthetic fiber, tearing a hole in his clothes.